> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://yamortsa.gitbook.io/rto/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://yamortsa.gitbook.io/rto/domain-reconnaissance/adsearch.md).

# ADSearch

[ADSearch](https://github.com/tomcarver16/ADSearch) has fewer built-in searches compared to PowerView and SharpView, but it does allow you to specify custom Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) searches. These can be used to identify entries in the directory that match a given criteria.

For example, we can search for all objects whose category is "user" (i.e. domain users).

```
beacon> execute-assembly C:\Tools\ADSearch\ADSearch\bin\Release\ADSearch.exe --search "objectCategory=user"

[*] No domain supplied. This PC's domain will be used instead
[*] LDAP://DC=dev,DC=cyberbotic,DC=io
[*] CUSTOM SEARCH: 

[*] TOTAL NUMBER OF SEARCH RESULTS: 10
	[+] cn : Administrator
	[+] cn : Guest
	[+] cn : krbtgt
	[+] cn : CYBER$
	[+] cn : Bob Farmer
	[+] cn : John King
	[+] cn : Nina Lamb
	[+] cn : MS SQL Service
	[+] cn : Squid Proxy
	[+] cn : STUDIO$
```

\\

Filters can be used to limit the search result further. For instance, search for all domain groups which end in the word "admins".

```
 beacon> execute-assembly C:\Tools\ADSearch\ADSearch\bin\Release\ADSearch.exe --search "(&(objectCategory=group)(cn=*Admins))"

[*] No domain supplied. This PC's domain will be used instead
[*] LDAP://DC=dev,DC=cyberbotic,DC=io
[*] CUSTOM SEARCH: 
[*] TOTAL NUMBER OF SEARCH RESULTS: 5
	[+] cn : Domain Admins
	[+] cn : Key Admins
	[+] cn : DnsAdmins
	[+] cn : MS SQL Admins
	[+] cn : Studio Admins
```

\\

These can be made more complex with further AND, OR and NOT conditions. All attributes can be returned using the `--full` parameter, or specific attributes with the `--attributes` parameter.

```
beacon> execute-assembly C:\Tools\ADSearch\ADSearch\bin\Release\ADSearch.exe --search "(&(objectCategory=group)(cn=MS SQL Admins))" --attributes cn,member

[*] TOTAL NUMBER OF SEARCH RESULTS: 1
	[+] cn     : MS SQL Admins
	[+] member : CN=Developers,CN=Users,DC=dev,DC=cyberbotic,DC=io
```

\\

Additionally, the `--json` parameter can be used to format the output in JSON.

```
[
  {
    "cn": "MS SQL Admins",
    "member": "CN=Developers,CN=Users,DC=dev,DC=cyberbotic,DC=io"
  }
]
```